title: In vivo quantification of brain injury in adult Niemann-Pick Disease Type C.
abstract: Development of surrogate markers is necessary to assess the potential efficacy of new therapeutics in Niemann-Pick Disease Type C (NP-C). In the present study, magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) imaging, a quantitative MRI imaging technique sensitive to subtle brain microstructural changes, was applied in two patients suffering from adult NP-C. Statistical mapping analysis was performed to compare each patient's MTR maps with those of a group of 34 healthy controls to quantify and localize the extent of brain injury of each patient. Using this method, pathological changes were evidenced in the cerebellum, the thalami and the lenticular nuclei in both patients and also in the fronto-temporal cortices in the patient with the worse functional deficit. In addition, white matter changes were located in the midbrain, the cerebellum and the fronto-temporal lobes in the patient with the higher level of disability and in only one limited periventricular white matter region in the other patient. A 6-month follow-up was performed in the patient with the lower functional deficit and evidenced significant extension of grey matter (GM) and white matter (WM) injuries during the following period (14% of increased injury for GM and 53% for WM). This study demonstrates that significant brain injury related to clinical deficit can be assessed in vivo in adult NP-C using MTR imaging. Although preliminary, these findings suggest that MTR imaging may be a relevant candidate for the development of biomarker in NP-C.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Résonance Magnétique Biologique et Médicale UMR CNRS 6612, Faculté de Médecine, Université de Méditerranée, Aix-Marseille II, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Wafaa
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zaaraoui
authors.forename: Lydie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Crespy
authors.forename: Audrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rico
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Faivre
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Soulier
authors.forename: Sylviane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Confort-Gouny
authors.forename: Patrick J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Cozzone
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pelletier
authors.forename: Jean-Philippe
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Ranjeva
authors.forename: Elsa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kaphan
authors.forename: Bertrand
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Audoin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D052556:Niemann-Pick Disease, Type C / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers